By Zephyria The sound of the bonfire crackling was accompanied by the savory aroma of mushrooms being grilled. Kenneth picked out a few well-grilled mushrooms and placed them on a plate. Then, after sprinkling a little of the spices he had, he took the plate to Leonardo.
“Blaine, please have some of this.”
Leonardo, who was staring intently at only one place with fierce eyes, glanced at Kenneth, who was scurrying up to him from the side, not befitting his large frame, and shyly offering him the grilled mushrooms and a fork. However, that was only for a moment, as he fixed his gaze forward again and said.
“I don’t like that. You eat it.”
“Yes? But you haven’t eaten anything… please just try a little.”
He asked again with courage, but the answer he received was a firm refusal. Kenneth, who had been rejected for the mushrooms he had grilled, could not hide his sullen expression. But he couldn’t bring himself to recommend something he didn’t like again, and his expression as he glared at the Scholar was so scary that he didn’t dare to ask again.
Leonardo was leaning against the shaded wall, sitting diagonally with one knee raised and his arm resting on it, staring only at the unidentified man who had introduced himself as a Scholar. He couldn’t possibly not know the gaze fixed on him, but even so, the Scholar was quite relaxed. He ignored the persistent scrutiny and just did his own thing.
What he was doing was marking something on the map with a protractor and ruler. Leonardo, who had glimpsed the map earlier, vaguely guessed that he was looking for something, seeing the X marks on each area.
Judging by the things he had and what he was doing, an archaeologist would be a perfect fit, but Leonardo, who had lived a short but eventful life and had seen the bottom of humanity quite a lot, thought that there was something fishy about him. A guy who was far from honest or upright.
All of the Scholar’s backpacks that Leonardo was suspicious of had the same brand, and the material and shape were almost identical, differing only in the degree of wear and tear from the bag that the outsider had.
And the reason for that was very obvious. The bag that the outsider had was also the Scholar’s, who was right in front of him.
A little while ago. When the dagger that had been touching his neck moved slightly away, the Scholar first let out a big sigh and then introduced himself as Simon. He said that he was very interested in the peninsula because the research he was conducting was related to it, and that he had often sneaked in for investigations before.
Then, he said that he was worried that things of long historical value would be damaged by the Council’s news that they would subjugate the peninsula, and that he had decided that he could no longer postpone the investigation of things that had not yet been discovered, so he had made thorough preparations and re-entered the peninsula.
After that, the Scholar explained the situation, saying that he had already heard about the outsider’s appearance and the minerals and eggs in the bag from Kenneth, as Leonardo had said. The Scholar stated that he was the original owner of the bag, and that the contents were what he had intended to take for his research.
And he added that he had only briefly accompanied the outsider inside the peninsula for the purpose of protecting his safety, and that he had stolen the entire bag and ran away while he was distracted for a moment.
He said that the reason the outsider knew about the value and explosion of the minerals was because he had told him the information he had learned while researching, and that he had taken the egg because it was the first egg he had seen that he had not been able to see in the peninsula. In addition, he apologized politely for the fact that the two of them seemed to have been caught up in danger because of him.
Kenneth seemed to trust him very much, as he was politely apologizing and even taking care of him, even though he could not be said to have any direct responsibility. However, Leonardo, as expected, did not believe the words at face value.
First of all, to start with the most basic thing, that Scholar should not be standing here so confidently in front of the Council members. He was still an outsider who had illegally trespassed on state-owned land and was trying to take out state-owned property.
And the reason why such a person could be so relaxed was because he had treated and cared for Leonardo and Kenneth, who had lost consciousness, and in return, he had received a promise from Kenneth that he would not inform the Council of his presence in the peninsula.
It was called a promise, but it seemed unlikely that a guy who was trading with the Council, even with people’s lives, would be a good guy. And the fact that the reason for accompanying the outsider was for protection, and the fact that he said that he didn’t know much about the egg either, were not all answers that were clearly convincing.
Besides, the way he looked, smirking and occasionally turning to look at him, made him feel disgusted, not to mention that he couldn’t trust him. Of course, this was just because he didn’t like him, regardless of objectivity.
Leonardo looked at Kenneth, who had made such a promise with that kind of guy, with pity once again. When he looked at him, Kenneth, who was still next to him, sparkled his eyes and offered him the grilled mushrooms.
‘If Kajard knew, this guy would be caught before that guy.’
Leonardo frowned and waved his hand as if to tell him to put it away.
Perhaps one of the types that Agrizendro particularly hated was a guy who tried to negotiate with the Council. Since the guy under him had snapped it up, it was natural that the guy who had entered illegally was so calm.
Besides, it seemed that Kenneth had poured out all the things that had happened to him, including his name, to that Scholar while he was unconscious, so the Scholar seemed to already know that he was not a Council official, and that he was the very ‘Leonardo Blaine’.
In fact, he didn’t really care if the Scholar was caught while investigating, but he felt a little disappointed that if he hadn’t made that promise, he could have pretended to be a Council official and found out this and that by using the excuse of tattling.
But that didn’t mean that he was really going to tell the Council about that Scholar.
First of all, that Scholar was the one who really knew the location where the mineral was discovered, and although he didn’t trust him, he was going to keep his word if it was really thanks to that guy that they had survived. Besides, he was now in the hands of the Council, so he had no intention of helping the Council with any official duties other than subjugation.
However, there was one question.
At the moment of the fall, Leonardo had drawn out his last strength to temporarily lift Kenneth and his body, which were plummeting. Thanks to that, he was able to reduce the acceleration to some extent, but that didn’t mean that he could completely prevent the impact.
In fact, he couldn’t even remember the situation at the time properly, and he wasn’t in his right mind at the time. He barely protected his head, and just kept running to some space that he could see in front of him… after that, he didn’t remember well.
If he had to recall the feeling, it was that a very warm hand had grabbed him just before he lost consciousness.
Leonardo, who had been blankly resting his chin on his hand, rolled his eyes and stared at the Scholar.
‘Was that guy the one? He doesn’t seem that quick-witted.’
The guy with the lavender hair and even pale skin was reasonably well-built, but he looked like he had been holed up in a lab doing research. His eyes were a little different, but that was how he looked on the outside. Anyway, for such a guy to have saved Kenneth and himself from the pouring boulders. It was quite absurd.
Leonardo Blaine’s gaze remained fixed on the scholar, and the scholar, turning his head, met his eyes. The snake-like eyes still held a swirling smile as they stared at Leonardo. His eyes were always slightly curved, making him appear to be smiling, but he wasn’t genuinely laughing. Amidst the strange staring contest, the scholar spoke first.
“Pretty boy, if you keep looking at me like that, I’ll misunderstand and think you’re interested in me.”
A moment of silence followed. Kenneth was the one who was startled by the scholar’s words. Leonardo, who had been idly propping up his chin, frowned without saying anything.
‘Is he crazy?’
Eventually, instead of responding to the previous remark, he brought up the question he had.
“Hey, you. About saving us both from the collapse site. Is that true? You don’t exactly seem like the type to use your body, so how did you get out of there?”
“Hmm?”
The scholar tilted his head with his signature annoying smile and said,
“What are you talking about? I didn’t even go there?”
Leonardo’s face showed a question mark at the scholar’s words. He stared at the scholar for a moment, then turned his eyes to Kenneth and asked again.
“What? You said he saved us.”
“Yes? Ah, that’s—.”
“It’s true I saved you. Because I used all the medicine I brought for myself on you. But I didn’t save you from the collapse site. When I got here, you were already passed out here.”
The scholar interrupted Kenneth and answered instead.
Leonardo’s eyebrows lifted slightly in disbelief at the words that they had been passed out here. Kenneth, seeing him, asked Leonardo.
“Didn’t Blaine bring you here? I thought that’s what happened….”
“…I don’t remember well either.”
Leonardo thought that perhaps Kenneth had woken up in the middle and moved him, but this guy, on the contrary, thought he had brought him. At that, Leonardo frowned and retraced his memories.
‘Did I come here on my own? Did I move unconsciously?’
The scholar, seeing them looking confused, slightly raised the corners of his lips and then drew a line on the map with a ruler. Then, he gestured as if telling them to come closer.
“Do you want to see this? I’ll show you how far this place is from the place that collapsed.”
Kenneth, looking back and forth between the scholar and Leonardo, jumped up and immediately approached the map.
Leonardo sat there with a suspicious look, but he too soon got up from his seat and slowly walked towards the scholar. The scholar, as if he knew he would come, smiled and slid the map slightly in his direction.
Leonardo knelt down and looked closely at the map. There was a straight line marked with a red pen connecting two points. One point was the collapsed mountainside, and the other seemed to represent this place now.
Leonardo couldn’t help but be a little surprised when he saw it. The distance from the collapse site to this place was much farther than he had expected. No matter how short the route, it was definitely not a distance that a person on the verge of losing consciousness could move unconsciously.
‘Then who?’
As Leonardo stared at the map with increasing confusion, the scholar glanced at him from right next to him and casually changed the subject.
“But you have a lot of interesting things.”
At the scholar’s words, Leonardo’s eyes suddenly turned sharply cold.
Slowly turning his head, he slowly touched the pillar next to the scholar’s head with his hand. The scholar stared at his arm reaching out next to his head for a moment, then met Leonardo’s eyes again.
Even though he didn’t strike with his fist, it was quite threatening.
“Did you rummage through my Artifacts?”
His voice was different from before. The scholar intuitively knew that he would be in big trouble if he misspoke, so he smiled leisurely but slightly dodged his head to the side.
“Hey, how could I rummage through something with so many locks? I just took off the things that looked uncomfortable and roughly looked to see if there were any useful medicines.”
“…….”
“Come to think of it, the dagger you held to my neck earlier wasn’t an ordinary object either.”
Leonardo listened to him rambling and thought.
‘He tried, this bastard.’
He hadn’t been able to open the locked Artifacts, but he seemed to have scanned through some of the belongings he had.
Leonardo stared intently at the scholar, trying to figure out the truth of what he was saying.
If the scholar’s words that he had roughly looked while trying to take care of the injured were true, then that action wasn’t very mannerly, but he didn’t want to react sensitively and arouse curiosity for no reason. And in fact, everything he had was valuable and difficult to obtain, so it was something that people would be interested in if they saw it. It was just unsettling that the guy who was interested was this guy.
When he counted earlier, nothing was missing, and he suddenly thought that the guy who saw or stole something wouldn’t mention it and stir up trouble for no reason.
However, when he found out that this guy was the one who took off his magic robe top and put bandages on his shoulders and arms, he felt more annoyed than grateful.
Leonardo, meeting the scholar’s eyes, lowered his hand that had been on the pillar next to his head. It was a sign that he would let it go. But the scholar looked at Leonardo and grinned with his long eyes.
“But, you made it so I couldn’t even touch what’s in your pants pocket. What is it?”
At the scholar’s words, Leonardo slowly straightened his bent knees with a blank expression and looked down at him.
“You’re too interested in other people’s things.”
His gaze and voice contained a proper warning. Leonardo immediately turned around and walked somewhere.
Then Kenneth, thinking that Leonardo was angry, fidgeted and hesitated before getting up and following him. The scholar watched their backs with an interesting expression.
‘Pocket?’
Leonardo’s pace quickened as he moved away from them. He turned around the corner of the structure, took a few more steps to create some distance, and then leaned against a towering pillar and sat down with a thud.
The fact that there was something in his pocket was something he didn’t even know. But he deliberately hid his puzzled expression in front of the scholar.
Leonardo groped above his thigh. Then, he really felt something in his left pants pocket.
He put his hand in his pocket and groped inside. Then, he touched a metal that felt refreshing and cool to the touch.
Leonardo had a hunch about this feeling he was feeling now. Because it was something he knew well.
What he touched was a ring. But when he checked his belongings, all the rings he originally owned were still there. So this ring couldn’t have been something he originally had.
He swallowed hard once with his hand still in his pants pocket. Then, he carefully took out the ring and checked it with his eyes.
“…….”
His lips parted slightly.
The ring was quite thick, and intricate engravings decorated the silver background. As expected, this ring was not his, but it was a very familiar object. He had the same one, but he had left it behind with everything else on the day he was court-martialed.
Leonardo focused on his fingertips and slowly stroked the inside of the ring. He felt another engraving.
Deep letters were engraved on the inside. He slightly tilted the angle of the ring he was holding to check the engraved letters.
‘NERO’
His face, which had been stiff all along, gradually softened.
“…Ha.”
A pleasant chuckle escaped.